World News Quick Take

Agencies

THAILAND

PM-linked stocks plummet

Supporters of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra denounced opposition threats against businesses linked to her family yesterday ahead of a gathering of opposition leaders today. SC Asset’s share price has lost almost 10 percent since Wednesday and mobile handset distributor M-Link Asia Corp, also with links to the family, lost 12 percent. Other stocks affected include Shin Corp, founded by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra before he entered politics and its mobile affiliate Advanced Info Service Pcl (AIS) which yesterday sent an SMS to clients saying it no longer has any connection with the Shinawatra family. “AIS is not involved in politics and is not a pipeline for any side,” it said. Red Shirts leader Tida Tawornseth said today’s rally would consolidate plans to restore democracy after the opposition boycotted and disrupted elections this month, leaving the country paralyzed under a caretaker government.

JAPAN

Takeshima rally held

Japan held an annual rally yesterday marking Tokyo’s claim to a set of tiny islands controlled by South Korea, further fueling a long-standing territorial row between the neighbors. About 500 people gathered at the event in Shimane Prefecture, including a high-ranking Japanese government official, as well as local and national politicians, organizers said. Tokyo refers to the islands — which lie between the two countries — as Takeshima, while they are known as Dokdo in South Korea. Yoshitami Kameoka, a parliamentary secretary in Tokyo’s Cabinet Office, attended the event representing the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the organizers said.

INDIA

Rickshaw driver kills US wife

A rickshaw driver stabbed his US wife to death before setting himself ablaze, Agra police said yesterday, in a violent end to a whirlwind romance against in the backdrop of the Taj Mahal. Bunty Sharma, 32, killed Arian Willingar, 35, from Pennsylvania on a deserted roadside in the tourist city of Agra after the couple had a fight late on Thursday, senior police officer Shalabh Mathur said. Sharma later committed suicide by setting himself on fire, he said. The couple first met when Willingar visited Agra in July last year with her friends to see the Taj Mahal. Romance blossomed, they got married and began living together, but soon had a falling out over suspicions of infidelity. Sharma accused her “of smoking too much, talking to other men and not staying at home,” the Indian Express reported.

HONG KONG

Alligator coat snatched

A brazen shoplifter has taken an alligator-leather coat worth nearly HK$1 million (US$130,000) from a flagship Burberry store in one of the territory’s busiest shopping districts, Hong Kong police said on Friday. The pricey trench coat was on a mannequin and staff at the British brand’s shop in Tsim Sha Tsui discovered it was missing after they closed for business on Wednesday. “The person who reported the case discovered a leather jacket worth about HK$900,000 had disappeared. A review of the security cameras made staff believe it had been stolen,” police said in a statement. Police are looking for a strongly built male suspect aged between 30 and 40, it said. The Tsim Sha Tsui area is particularly popular with wealthy Chinese tourists willing to pay eye-popping prices for Western brands. The suspect is said to be a Chinese man and walked out of the three-story store unchallenged after removing the coat from the mannequin.